Michael Owen
Michael Owen
Michael James Owenis a former English footballer who played as a striker for Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle United, Manchester United and Stoke City, as well as for the England national team. He is a regular pundit and co-commentator on BT Sport football coverage, and sometimes appears on BBC's Match of the Day as a pundit. Since retiring from football, he has become a successful racehorse breeder and owner...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionSoccer Player
Date of Birth14 December 1979
CityChester, England
You're on your own out there with ten mates.
Nobody on this planet had a range of passing like Paul Scholes. Training every day was a pleasure just watching him. Unbelievable career.
I don't get a lot of enjoyment out of sitting there for an hour and a half watching a game like we saw between Ireland and England last Sunday.
If you only ever give 90% in training then you will only ever give 90% when it matters.
When you put better teams in front of you, that's when the big players rise to that occasion.
I feel that every time I get the ball at the moment I am going to score.
I don't want to pack everything into one year and then do nothing the rest of my life. I think it's important to do things bit by bit.
David Beckham and Jonathan Woodgate were trying to persuade me to stay at Real, but in the end I had to come home.
The better the opposition that's put in front of you, the better your team plays,
I want to have as normal a life as possible.
There's been a lot written in the press over the last week, and I've been as honest as possible for everyone, but also actions speak louder than words. I'm here and I've signed a four-year contract. The one thing I will guarantee is goals.
The (Madrid) president understood and said he would try to help me achieve this, ... If the transfer cannot be finalized in time I have agreed to go to Newcastle United, but only on a one-year loan. I need to be playing regularly in a World Cup year.
The England manager has never put any pressure on me, ... OK, it is a World Cup year and it is nice to be playing and playing in England, but if it was not a World Cup year, I would still have had the drive to come back and play in English football.
The difference with football is you're out on the pitch, you feel as though you can do something about it, or score a goal. But when that horse goes down to post as an owner you have no involvement whatsoever. It's a lonely old place in the stand. It's just down to man and beast.